Students taking part in an innovative business and enterprise training programme have been commended by local business experts after impressing them with the quality of their ideas.

 

The Plunge, which was taking place for the fourth year running, took place from the 3^rd to the 7^th November. Students from Redcar & Cleveland College were put through their paces developing a business plan right from coming up with an initial idea for their business through to financial, sales and operational plans for their company.

 

Developed in partnership with The Working Knowledge Group, the programme aims to give students experience of setting up their own business through every stage of the process.

 

The groups held a series of meetings with expert volunteers from local businesses who advised them on their ideas and offered guidance for further developing their plan, before coming back to pitch to them in a Dragon’s Den style meeting.

 

Over the course of the week over 200 students took part in the programme in three streams. The winners of each of these streams were invited back on the final day of the event on Friday, where an overall winner for the week was chosen.

 

Taking the overall accolade for the week was the company ‘Stars R Golden’ whose planning and presentation of their idea for an all in one hair styling and straightening tool impressed the judges to such a degree that one member of the group (Rachel Harston) was offered mentoring with one of the business experts.

 

The group was made up of sports and fitness students Rachel Harston, aged 17, Scott Martin,19, Nathan Buckley, 18, Danny Harland,18 and Josh Young,16. As well as taking home the winner’s trophy, the group also won £200 in cash to share between them.

 

Rachel Harston, who was the company secretary and administrator, said:

 

“After some initial trepidation I ended up really enjoying the whole three days of The Plunge and to win the overall prize was the icing on the cake.

 

“The final day, when we met with, and then pitched our ideas to, the experts gave us a real idea of what it is like to be involved with running a business and I’m now looking forward to getting more experience of what it’s like to be involved in business through the mentoring I have been offered.”

 

Simon Brown, Managing Director at Calm Asylum and one of the business experts, said:

 

"I found the day extremely intense and was overwhelmed by the amount of effort and passion being displayed by the students.

 

“Although it was a team competition there were one or two individuals who really stood out and I believe if they continue with the same drive and enthusiasm then they will become successful."

 

Gary Groom, Principal of Redcar & Cleveland College, presented the winning groups with their awards. Commenting on the week’s activities he said:

 

“The standard set by the students who took part in ‘The Plunge’ this year has really raised the bar in terms of the quality of their ideas and their flare for enterprise and business development.

 

“I have been really impressed by all of the entries that we have seen this week. I know that it was a hard decision for the judges to pick an overall winner, but the winning group showed that they had what it takes to be a real success in business and having developed so fast in just three days.

 

“Most importantly though, all the feedback we have received shows that the students have really enjoyed themselves and now have a clear insight into business start-up processes.

 

“We have worked hard with our partner, The Working Knowledge Group, to develop a programme of exciting enterprise activities. Many of the employers involved have expressed their willingness to mentor and in some cases employ our students as a result of the programme. The programme, initially developed at Redcar and Cleveland College is also now being demanded by colleges nationally.”

 

Andrew Hatcher, Managing Director of The Working Knowledge Group, said:

 

“Programmes like Ride the Wave have a huge part to play in raising the aspirations and skills of our young people, while simultaneously highlighting the fantastic talent available to employers that exists in our colleges. Our belief is that bringing employers together with young people in a professional and business-like way, rapidly bridges the skills gap as cultural and inter-generational barriers fall away.”